Following extensive research and advocacy by the Civil Rights and Restorative Justice Project (CRRJ) at Northeastern University School of Law, in partnership with the Innocence Project of New York, the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office acknowledged earlier this month, that 19-year-old Tommy Lee Walker was wrongfully convicted and executed for the 1953 murder of Venice Lorraine Parker.
On January 21, 2025, after a three-hour hearing, the Dallas County Commissioners Court declared that Tommy Lee Walker “was and is innocent” of the crime for which he was executed by the State of Texas.
Featured Image: Professor Margaret Burnham speaks at the posthumous hearing for Tommy Lee Walker in Dallas, TX on Jan. 21, 2026. Photo by Shelby Tauber.
In the Press
Read and watch some of the press coverage of this case and CRRJ’s integral involvement:
Seventy years after his execution, CRRJ’s investigation leads Dallas County to acknowledge grave injustice in Tommy Lee Walker’s killing.
Man executed nearly 70 years ago in case marked by racial bias finally exonerated
Read more...
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